1.12

Regulation must support investment by the private sector, while at the same time promoting competition wherever there are potential barriers to competitive delivery of services. This is especially true for fixed next generation access networks that are likely to display the characteristics of enduring economic bottlenecks. Our stakeholders have told us that the most valuable ways regulation can support private sector investment is to:

provide a clear, consistent and transparent regulatory regime;

ensure any regulation takes account of the uncertainty and risk in investment;

provide flexibility in trialling and piloting to help develop and test new technologies, commercial relationships and services;

support experimentation by all organisations on how to deploy or run these services, including new entrants, the public sector and community broadband projects; and

reduce barriers to entry wherever possible. Our strategy of spectrum release, liberalisation and trading is a key area in achieving this aim, enabling the market to launch new wireless services when the time is right, including those that may compete in the delivering of next generation access services.